Intesa’s €31.8 billion offer for Monte dei Paschi enters acceptance phase in November
Key Facts
Italy’s financial regulator Consob approved on 8 November the offer document and European prospectus for the voluntary offer by Intesa Sanpaolo to acquire all ordinary shares of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The offer is valued at €31.8 billion, according to ANSA, while Intesa said the decision concerns approval of the documents and opens the way to the offer acceptance phase, but does not mean the acquisition is complete. The share acceptance period is scheduled to begin at 08:30 Italian time on 24 November and end at 17:30 on 22 January 2027, with the possibility of an extension. The timetable gives Monte dei Paschi shareholders a defined period to consider the cash and share consideration on offer. The regulatory approval follows the bank’s shareholders’ vote in October on management’s plan to counter the offer, but does not by itself determine the outcome of the deal.
The announced consideration provides for a cash payment of 1.250 euros and the issuance of 1.664 new Intesa shares for each Monte dei Paschi share tendered. Intesa set 29 January 2027 as the expected payment date, if the deal is completed. The structure leaves part of the consideration linked to shares in the acquiring bank, alongside the cash amount, making the offer’s terms and timing key considerations for shareholders during the acceptance period. The end of the period on 22 January does not automatically mean the acquisition has been completed; closing remains subject to the offer’s conditions. Those conditions include Intesa securing at least 66.67% of Monte dei Paschi’s share capital, though the bank said it reserves the right to waive this condition.
Monte dei Paschi shareholders rejected key parts of chief executive Luigi Lovaglio’s plan to defend the bank on 29 October, including two offers to acquire Banco BPM and Banca Generali. ANSA reported at the time that the vote weakened the defensive plan and paved the way for Intesa’s offer to proceed, but did not complete the deal. The agency described Intesa’s offer as worth 33 billion euros in its coverage of the vote, while its report on the approval of the documents put the offer’s value at €31.8 billion. In the context of the proposed deal, ANSA said the combined group would rank second in the euro area by market value, targeting net income of more than 16 billion euros in 2029. These figures link the expansion ambitions to the group’s performance after the merger, while its future targets remain contingent on the deal’s completion and its plans.
Intesa estimated that the proposed group would serve more than 27 million customers and manage customer financial assets worth about 2 trillion euros by 2029. It also said the deal would strengthen wealth management, protection, advisory, corporate and investment banking activities, alongside retail banking and consumer credit. On addressing competition issues, the bank said a planned agreement with UniCredit would involve the sale of an independent banking entity comprising about 635 of Monte dei Paschi’s branches, its brand and most of the central structures needed to operate it. Intesa said it would retain Mediobanca and its brand, along with about 625 of Monte dei Paschi’s branches. ANSA’s estimates are based on the agreed branch sale to UniCredit, citing expectations for annual savings of about 2.9 billion euros once full operations are reached by 2029.
The offer timetable indicates that implementation could extend beyond the end of the initial acceptance period. Intesa said it would voluntarily reopen the offer for 5 consecutive trading days, from 1 to 5 February 2027, if the required conditions are met, and set 12 February as the expected payment date for shares tendered during the reopening period. This makes the January and February dates separate milestones in the timetable announced by the bank, with fulfilment of the conditions remaining decisive. In trading, Intesa shares listed under the ticker IITSF closed at 7.06 dollars on 5 November, then at 6.82 dollars on 6 November 2026. These are prices from sessions before Consob’s approval announced on 8 November and do not represent a subsequent market response.